Embrace the Pace with your Dog

A gripe a lot of folks have is their dog pulling on the walk. We’ve discussed quite a few methods and practices to try whilst walking your dog in our blogs. A major contributor is that dogs generally have a faster natural pace than us. Of course if your dog is elderly, injured or unwell they may need to move slower. Young pups should only be doing modified exercise and your vet can guide you with that.

Dr. Sophia Lin was often reminding owners to try picking up the pace with their dogs as it was a big ask to want dogs to slow down. A faster pace also helped drive up their enthusiasm for being with us. A dog can be the ideal exercise partner as they always ready and highly motivated. After only a couple of sessions, just watch their face come to life when you strap on your walking shoes and they will never gripe about poor weather.

The other thing about a dog’s natural pace is that they are inclined to stop/start as things take their interest. This means they are ideally suited to what humans call ‘Fartlek’. In Swedish this word means ‘speed play’, a training method blending interval training with continuous training. It basically means periods of faster running mixed with slower running. If you are not at a fitness level suitable to running with your dog or it is not safe to do so you can still mix this up into fast and slow walking. You can even throw some sniff stops into the session. Doing this helps keep things a little more interesting for your dog and it also great for your interval training regime.

Whilst it is tempting to dwell on the problems of exercising your dog, what you give out will come back to you 3-fold from your canine. He/she will see you as a wonderful source of enjoyment.

Leah & Angela OMeara

Hound Dog Day Care (Specialists in Dog Minding & Dog Boarding, Pet Sitting Brisbane & Doggy Day Care Brisbane)